Language and mentally handicapped children: WHY SCHOOLS FAIL

SUMMARY There seems to be a growing feeling amongst teachers of mentally handicapped children that their schools are ill‐equipped to foster the language development of their pupils. This has arisen because many pupils appear to learn and use more language skills at home than at school. This article examines some possible reasons for this: the often inadequate relationships between staff and children; the poor furnishings; the fact that staff share too few experiences with pupils; the failure to allow children to choose and to control their school life and the staff; the failure to use children's interests. Some of the solutions are quite easy, others difficult; but the purpose of this article is to highlight the problems, rather than to propose solutions.